Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of child abuse, child abduction, and references to child molestation.

Avery’s jean jacket is a motif referencing the underlying web of lies in the town. William believes that if he sticks to his story—that he never saw Avery at home the day she disappeared—then the police will never know. However, Gully notices Avery’s jacket hung upon the top hook of their coat rack, where only an adult could reach, and concludes that someone must have been at home with her. The fact that William keeps lying about the day Avery disappeared reveals that William cares more about protecting Nora and his reputation than about finding Avery. Avery’s jacket hiding in plain sight signifies the way that William’s lies hide just beneath the surface of his well-crafted life, and the police only need to dig slightly to reveal all the ways that he has deceived his family. More broadly, the lie about the jean jacket extends to the neighborhood and town of Stanhope as a whole. Everyone is hiding under a thin veil of deception.